


Catalyst (Ep. 2)

by NervousAliceCurious



Series: Heroes' Journey [2]
Category: Escape the Night (Web Series), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Carnival Game of Doom, Carnival of Death, Clown-Fighting, Creepy Clowns, Ferris Wheel, Gen, Hero Lessons/Crash Course, Joey wants the pony, Lessons Beginning, Level-Up In Tough, Meddling, Someone To Protect, The Jack-In-The-Box, the 80's
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-25
Updated: 2019-03-21
Packaged: 2019-11-05 16:38:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17922461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NervousAliceCurious/pseuds/NervousAliceCurious
Summary: Faced with a sudden invasion, Riley and her new partner must navigate a dangerous battlefield! Trying not to get killed before they've even started, the dynamic duo's path to True Heroism begins!!





	1. Into It Headfirst

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MysticalAuthoress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticalAuthoress/gifts).
  * Inspired by [Here We Go Again](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15747981) by [MysticalAuthoress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticalAuthoress/pseuds/MysticalAuthoress). 



The seventies were _nothing_ like the Victorian era.

 

 

Lights flashed and twinkled on every surface, while colorful, wild-haired individuals carted around massive stuffed toys, and large cones of pastel-swirled cotton candy.

 

 

A far cry from Riley's muted, gothic world of fairytales and nightmares.

 

 

_My eyes can’t keep track of it all…_

 

 

 

“This place is awesome!!”

 

 

 

To her left, she could hear her new apprentice(?) gushing over the controlled chaos.

 

 

 

“I am ready to _par-tay_!!”

 

 

“Matt, look!

 

Stuffies…!!!”

 

 

“If I win this horse, I’m naming it Blanche”.

 

 

“Why Blanche!?”

 

 

“Why not?”

 

 

 

Searching for an anchor in the midst of the psychedelic playground, she felt someone touch her shoulder.

 

 

 

“Joanne”.

 

 

“Riley!

 

I saw you talking to that guy earlier”.

 

 

She couldn’t help but smile as he made a beeline for the Test-Your-Strength booth.

 

 

“I’ve gotta say, I’ve never seen someone with that much energy before”.

 

 

“Yeah, it’s…nice”.

 

 

“Did he do it?”

 

 

“Do what?”

 

 

“You know!”

 

 

She tilted her head, eyes glittering knowingly.

 

 

“Ask for hero training…?”

 

 

“Yes, he did!”

 

 

She gave her lover a surprised look.

 

 

“How did you know?”

 

 

Her smile grew ever wider.

 

 

“It was the first thing he told that red-suited friend of his…what was her name again?

 

Teala?”

 

 

She giggled.

 

 

“He was _so_ enthusiastic, I thought he was gonna lift off to the moon!”

 

 

“But he doesn’t even have a jetpack for that”.

 

 

“Yeah, well, you coulda fooled me!”

 

 

The formerly-monikered ‘Jetpack Girl’, pulled her in for a quick kiss.

 

 

 

“I’m super-proud of you!

 

You’re finally coming out of your shell!!”


	2. Beneath The Surface

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All is not well on the outside.

 

Out of her…shell?

 

…

 

 

She wasn’t aware that she’d ever been in one.

 

 

 

_I guess that does make sense, though_ , Riley regretfully conceded.

 

 

_Ever since…I killed **her** …_

 

 

 

Screaming nightmares in her face, the feel of the blade in her hand, the terror and devastation at his death, the cruel remembrances of being trapped trapped TRAPPED-

 

 

 

She shuddered, realizing that her heart was beating fiercely within her chest even though she’d done nothing at all to stir it to life.

 

 

 

 

It had been a rough year.

 

 

 

For herself,

 

 

for Joanne,

 

 

and for their other, mutual friend-

 

 

 

 

Vincent.

 

 

 

 

Now that she’d confirmed it, now that he was _truly_ a Hero-In-Training, Roi couldn’t stop thinking and smiling about it at the same exact time!!

 

 

_He was so excited-!!!!_

 

 

 

_I wonder what the first lesson’s gonna be like…_

 

 

Fitness training?

 

Self-defense?

 

 

 

Learning how to use those super-cool weapons the main characters always got in every action movie on the planet!?

 

 

 

_I just can’t wait!!_

 

 

 

 

That was when he noticed his new teacher bracing herself against the side of a cotton candy stand, features drawn, face completely drained of color.

 

 

 

“Riley?”

 

 

 

Warning signals flashing in his mind, the Daredevil hurried to her side.

 

 

“Are you okay?”

 

 

 

“…I’m fine…”

 

 

 

But she didn’t look it-Not really…

 

 

 

“Do you want to rest somewhere?

 

 

I think I saw a bench down by the popcorn makers’-“

 

 

 

“I’ll be okay, really”.

 

 

 

She smiled wanly, eyes carrying a tired sheen.

 

 

 

“But thank you anyway…”

 

 

“It’s no problem…”

 

 

 

He then promptly bought a stick of cotton candy just so it wouldn’t conveniently happen to look like he was purposely hanging around out of worry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little bonding moment for our two heroes. (:


	3. Roots

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's going on in Riley's tortured mind...

 

It had been awhile since she’d had an attack like that…

 

 

Riley ran a hand through her long, blonde hair and tried to sort out her thoughts.

 

 

 

 

_That…that was the most vivid one yet…_

 

 

 

 

She’d used to have them all the time before Joanne was able to slowly nudge her towards forgiveness.

 

 

 

 

 

Of **herself.**

 

 

 

 

If she hadn’t killed the Sorceress, then none of them would have been able to leave the Mansion…and none of them would have been free of her curse, but-

 

 

 

 

_I took a human life that day, nonetheless…_

 

 

 

 

The need for revenge had eaten her up from the inside-out, and this was the price she now had to pay.

 

 

 

 

Repeated flashes of what she had suffered in the past compounded by horror and guilt at what she’d done, what the _Sorceress_ had done to those who had saved her-

 

 

 

Regret at having wanted to bring her to life in the first place.

 

 

 

 

_How long will they last…?_

 

 

 

 

-And would she be able to keep holding on to the faint hope that someday, soon…

 

 

 

 

 

They would eventually disappear completely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was still hard to predict what might trigger her at any given time-

 

 

 

 

 

_Roi._

 

 

 

His face floated amidst the chaos that was her churning mind, and she grasped onto it as a make-shift anchor!

 

 

 

 

He’d noticed her in distress from all the way over by the Ball Toss.

 

 

 

 

_You…_

 

 

 

They hadn’t even started training yet, and he was already proving himself to be a pretty good hero.

 

 

 

 

 

_I…I need to…_

 

 

 

 

Her gaze swung from one side of the psychedelic set-up to the other.

 

 

 

 

 

_I need to find him-_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Her eyes rested for a second upon the Ferris wheel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think you all know where this is heading... ;)


	4. Meeting Of The Minds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somebody got it right on the nose. ;)

Roi was currently looking for Joanne.

 

 

He didn’t want to be _that guy_ , but…

 

 

 

If Riley was having some kind of weird panic attack, then didn’t she deserve to know?

 

 

 

 

Especially since it _kinda_ looked like the two of them were dating and all-

 

 

 

 

Ah!

 

 

There she was!!

 

 

 

 

Standing next to Joey, and Teala at a shady-looking side-booth…

 

 

 

 

The man behind this epic mission was currently pleading with the purple-haired clown:

 

 

 

“If I win can I get the pony?

 

Can I get the pony, _please…_ ”

 

 

 

“I don’t know!” She said good-naturedly.

 

“We’ll have to see…”

 

 

 

Someone lightly grabbed his arm.

 

 

 

He turned to see Riley smiling at him.

 

 

 

Weakly, but still…

 

 

 

 

“Oh, hey”.

 

 

 

…Should he pretend to ignore the sheen of sweat upon her face, or not?

 

 

 

“You wanna watch Joey win a pony?”

 

 

 

“…I was actually thinking that…”

 

 

 

She nodded to the massive, glowing-with-a-thousand-lights Ferris wheel set smack-dab in the middle of everything.

 

 

 

“Maybe we could go up there…For the first lesson of-“

 

 

 

_“Hero training!?”_

 

 

 

He could barely breathe, the all-consuming excitement had come roaring back-

 

 

 

 

“Yeah”.

 

 

 

 

 

“Oh, so you’re going on this thing too?”

 

 

 

Matt and Rosanna were just about to climb into the bottom seat when the twosome approached.

 

 

 

“Yeah!”

 

 

Roi’s eyes had lit up like a kid’s would at Christmas time!

 

 

 

 

The Detective flashed his partner a knowing grin…

 

 

 

Someone was about to start being a Daredevil for real.

 

 

 

 

“In that case, welcome aboard!”

 

 

 

He held out his hand for the enthusiastic YouTuber to shake.

 

 

 

 

 

“This is going to be so much fun, I haven’t been on one of these in forever!!” The Jetsetter gushed.

 

 

 

 

“Me neither”, Riley admitted, brushing a loose strand of hair from her face.

 

 

 

“What do you think it will be like?”

 

 

 

_“Pure awesomeness!!”_

 

 

 

Roi hopped into the next one, boundless energy contained within his veins.

 

 

 

“Yeah!!”

 

 

Rosanna agreed wholeheartedly-

 

 

 

 

“E-excuse me…?”

 

 

 

A man in bright cherry-red stepped out of the milling crowd, also looking secretly nervous.

 

 

 

“Can I…can I speak with you two for a moment?”

 

 

 

The unofficial real-life Gravity’s Fall twins looked at each other.

 

 

 

“…You know what? Sure. It’s not like the ferris wheel’s gonna leave without us”.

 

 

“Yeah…yeah, okay…”

 

 

 

“We’ll wait for you”, Riley promised.

 

 

 

“Absolutely!”

 

 

 

“Okay!”

 

“We’ll be back before you know it!”

 

 

 

 

Hiking up her skirts, she gingerly put one foot into the slightly swaying cart.

 

 

“O-oh-!!”

 

“I’ve got you!”

 

 

 

Roi latched onto her arm and safely helped her in…

 

 

 

“Th-thank you…”

 

“It’s no problem at all”.

 

 

 

 

“Well, well, well!

 

What do we have here!?”

 

 

 

The clown from earlier seemed to stalk out of the shadows, hand poised over the lever that would start up the ride-

 

 

 

“A couple of lovebirds in for a spin…?”

 

 

 

“Oh-oh no-!”

 

 

“No, that’s not us-“

 

 

 

“What’s that~?”

 

 

She trilled playfully,

 

 

 

 

“I can’t hear you~

 

 

 

 

CLUNK!!

 

 

 

 

 

With a whirring noise loud enough to wake the dead both parties let out a startled scream as their cart lurched off the ground and swooped high into the air-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You just had to, didn't you...?

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all are getting a multi-chaptered bit for the next episode!! Yay!
> 
> Also, I have bad news, and good news.
> 
>  
> 
> The bad news: I don't know if I ship Joanne and Riley. I'm still trying to tentatively feel that out, and I don't know how it will end, so fair warning in advance, I guess? (I'm sorry MysticalAuthoress!! ><)
> 
>  
> 
> The good news: I sorta have an idea of how this is gonna go down, so you can expect at least three chapters here!!


End file.
